Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music – December 2015

Welcome to December, 2015 edition of Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music.

We will begin our present issue with a post that could well have been included in our last episode –

Four Aces and A Queen – Geeta Dutt’s songs with 4 ace music directors that may be missed because of the dominance of SD Burman, Hemant Kumar, OP Nayyar in her list of hit songs. On the birth anniversary of Geeta Dutt, the Queen of Bhaav Gayaki, Parag Sankla explores her lesser heard gems from the repertoire of four music directors Hansraj Behl, Chitragupt, Bulo C Rani and Avinash Vyas.

And since we are on that very site, we certainly get more to read on Geeta Dutt:

C Ramchandra as Chitalkar – continuing the series on the Year of Naushad (with C Ramchandra in tandem), SoY presents the songs of CR as a singer. C Ramchandra has also sung for other music directors, such as Mir Saheb (Lal Haveli, 1944), Anil Biswas (Jwar Bhata, 1944; Veena, 1948), Husnlal-Bhagatram (Apni Chhaya, 1950), Hemant Kumar (Samrat, 1954; Lagan, 1955), Roshan (Baraati, 1954), Usha Khanna (Faisla, 1965), Laxmikant-Pyarelal (Chhaila, 1967. We have picked up some of the less heard songs:

Naushad’s gems before ‘Rattan’ (1944) – a very fine researched article that brings up the (real) vintage Naushad – Before Rattan, Naushad did over a dozen films, having over 120 songs…. The Internet (YouTube) has brought to us a large number of his early songs….. a large number of his early songs are of outstanding quality. One for one, these songs are no less melodious and enjoyable than Rattan’s.

We have three posts by Arun Kumar Deshmukh on Atul’s Song A Day, which also throw quite an insight into the topic that is intrinsically related to the song under discussion. Even as we will listen to the songs mentioned in these posts in our next issue of Fading Memories.. Unforgettable songs (10th January, 2016), here is the brief take on each of the posts:

Samaa ye pyaar ka bahaar ke ye mele traces the most creative period – years 1955-60 – of SJ. The author attributes the loss melody in the din of popularity in post-1960 period to the growing differences between the partners.

Aa jaa aa jaa aa jaa nadiyaa kinaare– Author Ganesh Anantharaman, in his book “Bollywood melodies” says, “Perhaps success came too early to them from the very first film, depriving them to develop a bond which comes after struggling together for success.” Over and above the support of RK, quality lyricists and singers, the strong arrangers like Sebastian D’Souza played a major role in SJ’s great success. The post has quite succinctly presented a full range of ranking arrangers of that time.

Incidentally, I have been also able to locate a very interesting clip, on the subject of ‘Conviction and Leadership: Insights from the World of Bollywood Music’, in which Ganesh Anantharaman presents his ‘evolving thoughts on what can be learnt from the world of Bollywood music about conviction and leadership.

Some say it was Satyajit Ray’s favourite place. Now, the dappled HMV studio complex wears a mostly deserted look. – Chandrima Pal · Fading tune – Next year, Mumbai will lose a significant piece of its musical history when Rhythm House at Kala Ghoda shuts down for good. Some 1,652 km or more away, in the dusty neighborhood of Dum Dum north of Kolkata, another icon of the country’s musical legacy awaits the inevitable. [I was a regular visitor to Mumbai’s Rhythm House from 1974 till 1979. I had also occasion to visit Rhythm House sometime in 2009, when I was in that area in a case relating to a customs case. I had purchased a couple of film CDs then.]

The Carnatic vocalist who sings Urdu blues – Hariharan has invented a whole new genre in ghazal singing – Manish Gaekwad – Hariharan’s singing career began with a ghazal. Jaidev signed him to sing for the movie Gaman (1978). Hariharan sang Ajeeb Sanehaa Mujh Par Guzar Gaya Yaro, written by poet Shahryar. Hariharan later came to create a new genre within the ghazal called Urdu Blues. He incorporated elements of jazz and blues music in the song Yeh Aaine Se (Kaash, 2000). Guitars and drums play on a slow beat alongside the sitar and sarangi moving into a noir space.

We would conclude our Blog Carnival 2015 with a post that was originally published on 31st July, 2015, but I landed up only this month. So welcome an opportune coincidence!

Mohammed Rafi: For The Record By Gajendra Nand Khanna – During my of vinyl records purchasing years in mid 70s, I had collected a fairly large collection of Mohammad Rafi’s LP records. At least so I believed till I came across this post. This collector’s collection documented here is simply mind-blowing. In one of the responses to the article, Antara very aptly comments that this article has become a reference point for many. (What) an eclectic collection of Rafi’s versatility!!!

As we continue our pursuit of the golden period of Hindi Film Music …….